


Hunger

by ShadowoftheLamp



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Gen, Minor Character Death, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 03:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18357485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowoftheLamp/pseuds/ShadowoftheLamp
Summary: Being a vampire on an island with a group that insists on sticking together isn't exactly a great mix, Ryou learns.





	Hunger

 

Ryou was hungry.

He didn’t know if the Ring spirit had forgotten to eat before hopping on the boat or if he’d hoped Ryou would crack and drain one of his friends, but either way, he was going to put it on timeout when he got home.

Once he got home, that was. Away from this island. This island where he was surrounded by his friends, and their strong, beating hearts and tantalizing, pulsing veins…

Ryou wiped at his mouth, dismayed when his sleeve was soaked in drool. He usually didn’t go more than a day or two without eating. He’d managed to figure out a system where he didn’t need to completely drain and kill people, as long as he fed often. However, he couldn’t break away from the group without being suspicious, since he wasn’t an official duelist. So he was stuck.

And getting hungrier.

It was passing six days, the longest he’d gone in a while since he hadn’t eaten for a few before Duelist Kingdom. He clutched at his sweater as Honda passed close by, stomach groaning for sustenance. 

“Hey, you okay, Ryou?” Honda had heard. “Did something disagree with your stomach?”

Ryou mutely shook his head, swallowing back saliva that was welling up. 

“I’m… I’m fine.”

Honda set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure if you need any medicine we can get Pegasus to give us some.”

Ryou shook his head again. Honda was so _close_ …

Jonouchi was a godsend, grabbing Honda and pulling him towards a tree with gnarled branches to inspect ‘how cool it looks!’, but Ryou’s stomach dropped out when his senses kicked into overdrive at the scent of fresh blood.

“That thing has thorns!” Honda stick his finger in his mouth and sucked on it, but the damage was done- Ryou’s pupils had dilated, and he stumbled back, holding one hand over his nose and the other over his mouth. His stomach was gurgling like a chemical science experiment gone wrong, and the burn of starvation was riding up to his mouth, clawing at him like a living thing.

He knew Honda wasn’t food, but he couldn’t figure out how to tell his  _body_ that, tell his body why he was resisting his instincts for survival. He couldn’t hurt them, they’d seen the Ring spirit and didn’t kick him out. They were all he had, he couldn’t lose that even if it meant being so hungry he felt like he’d been hollowed out.

“Hey, are you in my campsite?” Another teenager pushed through the brush, and Ryou didn’t take the chance to think of anything except for the fact that he didn’t know them before pouncing.

Ryou shoved a hand over their mouth to muffle the scream. The anesthetic in his venom began to act quickly, but he couldn’t wait, hunger impatient to be satisfied now that he knew it wasn’t his friend. Sweet, rich, warm blood, lapped up after he’d sunk fangs into a tender neck, was delicious ambrosia. By the time they were out from the venom, they were already half-dead from the blood loss.

He stumbled back, blood dripping down his lips and chin as he took in the pale corpse, and forced himself to take a deep breath. He rolled up his sleeve and wiped his mouth with bare skin to not stain the yellow fabric on the outside. He usually didn’t have this much, and there was a twinge of uncomfortable fullness as the liquid inside was almost too much to keep down, but he swallowed. He needed this, to keep him running for the rest of the tournament. It wasn’t like he could give it back to a dead body.

When he was done, he tugged his sweater down, licked at his lips, and moved back through the brush to meet up with his friends.

Honda said that he looked better and he forced up a smile, glad the timing had meant he hadn’t had to hurt any of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure I remember Ryou being with the group the whole time in the manga, but if he wasn't, I'm calling artistic license for my vampire au because I say so. Comments are super appreciated!


End file.
